Happy Birthday Vijay: 6 movies where the actor played a hard-core romantic

Vijay started acting in movies as a child artiste as early as 1984 in the drama Vetri. He continued to be a child actor in films till Ithu Engal Neethi (1988). He made his debut as a lead actor with the 1992 film Naalaiya Theerpu, directed by his father SA Chandrasekhar. Vijay's first breakthrough is considered to be the 1996 release, Poove Unakkaga, directed by Vikraman.

Fondly referred to by fans as Thalapathy, the actor has achieved a lot of success in his 37-year-old film career. And especially in the past decade, he has been delivering hits consistently, making him one of the most bankable actors in the Tamil film industry. On his birthday, we take a look at six of his memorable films in the romance genre.

Poove Unakkaga

Poove Unakkaga was the first blockbuster in Vijay's career and was the breakthrough film for the actor. The movie eventually was remade in Telugu as Subhakankshalu (1997), in Kannada as Ee Hrudaya Ninagagi (1997) and Hindi as Badhaai Ho Badhaai (2002). The movie talks about the life of Raja, who unites two families that had separated after the son of one family eloped with the daughter of the other.

Minsara Kanna

The movie stars Vijay, Kushboo and Monica Castelino in lead roles. It is about a rich, arrogant entrepreneur (Kushboo) who hates men and only appoints female staff in her company. This holds until she and her secretary are saved by Kasi (Vijay). But Kasi is not just a passerby, he is there for a reason.

Priyamanavale

Vijay(Vijay) is a rich, spoilt brat, spending his time partying and enjoying with friends Chandru (Vivek) and Sowmya (Radhika Chaudhari) instead of managing his father's business. Moreover, he has no faith in the institution of marriage. When Vishwanathan decides to get Vijay married to make him more responsible, Vijay agrees that he’ll get hitched only if the marriage is valid only for one year. A turn of events makes Vijay relook at his idea of marriage.

Kadhalukku Mariyadhai

Fazil had directed Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, a remake of his popular Malayalam movie Aniyathipravu . The movie is a story of two lovers who belong to different religions and the highs and lows of their relationship. Vijay plays the role of Jeeva, who is in love with Mini. Mini’s overprotective brothers are against this relationship and thrash Jeeva. Jeeva decides to take Mini to his house, but when his father also disapproves of the relationship, they both start to question their actions.

Nanban

Nanban is the Tamil remake of Rajkumar Hirani's Hindi blockbuster 3 Idiots. The movie featured an ensemble cast including Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyaraj and Sathyan. Vijay played the character of Kosaksi Pasapugazh / Panchavan Pariventhan, reprising the role that Aamir Khan had played in the original.

Kaavalan

Kaavalan is the remake of the Malayalam movie Bodyguard, written and directed by Siddique (who also made the Malayalam version). Vijay is cast in the role of a bodyguard to a girl hailing from a rich family. Soon, the girl develops an attraction towards her bodyguard but decides to keep it a secret. And when they decide to elope, destiny has other ideas.